Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt denied that there are disputes inside their locker room, reiterating that he has a good relationship with his players and his assistant coaches.
During their 107-100 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, Blatt was pushed by Cavaliers superstar LeBron James when the first-year coach was complaining to the officials.
The scene created more speculation about the relationship of James and Blatt, but both of them denied that the push was a big deal. James said that he was just trying to protect his coach, and Blatt echoed his superstar's statement about the controversial push.
"I just thought my guy was taking a lot of hard hits and I didn't like it and I was expressing my opinion, and LeBron stepped in to I guess protect me in that situation, which is more than fine," Blatt told reporters. "But what I really wanted to do was protect him."
Blatt, who replaced Mike Brown in the offseason, denied reports suggesting that he has a rocky relationship with assistant coach Tyrone Lue, whom he edged in the race for the Cavaliers coaching vacancy last summer.
Reports suggested that most players are listening to Lue instead of Blatt. Lue also reportedly called timeouts before without Blatt's permission. When asked about the reports, Blatt said that he has a good relationship with Lue and denied that his first assistant called timeouts during games this season.
"Ty, if you know Ty, he's a very vocal and active guy," Blatt told ESPN. "An assistant can't call a timeout in an NBA game, if you didn't know that. Now, if he sees something, he feels something and he yells something out to alert me what he thinks, I don't have a problem with that. I listen to what I think I need to listen to."
Blatt, who is also assisted by former head coaches Larry Drew and Jim Boylan, played down speculations that he is on the verge of losing his job following their disappointing start this season, while also shrugging of criticisms from fans who want him to get fired midway through the season.
